(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal hygiene fixture adapted to be retrofitted onto a toilet bowl and, more particularly, relates to a personal hygiene fixture for producing a controllable water jet of variable temperature, pressure and flow, pivotal through a vertical arc.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
The basic personal hygiene system in most households in the World includes a bathroom having a conventional toilet system comprised of a toilet bowl, a toilet seat and a cover lid combination, a tank for flushing the toilet bowl, a cold water supply to the tank and a toilet-paper roll holder. In some such bathrooms, personal preferences of people preclude the use of toilet paper and favour water washes in the form of a separate bidet. The separate bidet is well-known and is commonly used in some parts of Europe but is sparingly used in North America. It generally includes a separate toilet type bowl without an attached lid or a toilet water tank. It normally is located close to the toilet bowl with a stationary water jet discharge nozzle attached at the inside bottom of the bowl to spray pressurized water on to the user, when the user sits on the bidet bowl. The drawbacks of this solution are that, firstly, the user has to get up from the toilet seat and move to the bidet bowl for water spray cleaning and, secondly, the bathroom size and its cost increase as a consequence of the presence and the size of the bidet bowl which is, normally, as large as the toilet bowl itself. Moreover, thirdly, since the nozzle is seated inside the bottom of the bidet bowl, the fixture is not completely hygienic, although still preferred by some over the use of toilet paper.
The alternative to the separate bidet bowl is the use of a portable bidet type fixture which is attachable to the existing toilet bowl or to the toilet seat. The portable fixture has advantages, in that, it is cost effective as the bathroom size need not change and, also, the user does not have to get up from the toilet seat for water spray cleaning.
A host of designs has been proposed for this class of fixtures. Some of these fixtures have been produced commercially in a limited fashion, but none has gained popularity. The following patents describe some of the relevant features of proposed various designs of bidet-type fixtures attachable to toilet bowls or adapted to be mounted in proximity to toilet bowls.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,585 proposes a unit attached to a wall near the toilet bowl that has a long hose with a nozzle to clean the user. The fixtures proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,279,001, 5,263,205 and 3,879,769 have water jet discharge nozzles fixed to the toilet seat but the nozzle is exposed to spent water during use, and hence is not hygienically sanitary. Moreover, these designs lack the flexibility of close control of the water jet.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,799,341,5.,722,097, 5,704,077, 5,659,901, 5,652,971,5,647,069, 5,630,234, 5,566,402, 5,504,948, 5,287,566, 4,807,311 and 4,197,594 in common disclose nozzles exposed to spent water during use since the nozzle is located inside the toilet bowl. These designs accordingly are not hygienically acceptable.